Austin OKs $41 million in Project Connect anti-displacement efforts
Austin City Council approved $41 million in funding for fiscal year 2021-22 to go toward anti-displacement efforts as Project Connect develops.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin City Council voted on consent Thursday to approve $41 million in anti-displacement funds to be used as the city gears up for Project Connect, an approved $7.1 billion transit system designed to expand and elevate the city's current mass transit network.
Voters approved Project Connect in the November 2020 elections, with $300 million of the project's overall cost allocated to anti-displacement initiatives. According to the city's Project Connect anti-displacement effort, approximately 281,000 Austinites live within one mile of the project.
Thursday's approved $41 million in funds, allocated for fiscal year 2021-22, will be broken into two parts: $21 million committed toward constructing affordable housing resources and $20 million toward anti-displacement mitigation efforts.
This fiscal year's $41 million in funds follows a commitment of $23 million in FY 2020-21 to both land acquisition and affordable housing preservation efforts.
During a November anti-displacement community meeting, Project Connect officials provided a 13-year breakdown of how that $300 million funding will be disseminated throughout the project's construction:
- FY 2020-21: $23 million
- FY 2021-22: $42 million
- FY 2022-23: $35 million
- FY 2023-24: $20 million
- FY 2024-25: $20 million
- FY 2025-26: $20 million
- FY 2026-27: $20 million
- FY 2027-28: $20 million
- FY 2028-29: $20 million
- FY 2029-30: $20 million
- FY 2030-31: $20 million
- FY 2031-32: $20 million
- FY 2032-33: $20 million
Ahead of council's vote on consent, Council Member Ann Kitchen — who also serves as vice chair on the Capital Metro board — noted this was a critical vote in ensuring appropriate measures are taken to minimize the impact this project's development will have on residents and community stakeholders.
Within one mile of the project's boundaries, approximately 67% of residents qualify as low income, with 60% of residents in the one-mile radius categorized as non-white.
"This is a recognition and a thank you to our staff, to the community advisory committee and to everyone who's been involved with the anti-displacement efforts, that we continue to act as quickly as we possibly can and as effectively and as focused as we possibly can, understanding that this needs to be community-led," she said. "Because that's what's going to get us the most effective response when trying to mitigate and address displacement."